Carboy package



NOV. 19, 1935. R w A E ET AL Y 292L879 GARBOY PA KAGE Filed, Oct. 25,1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fa'm. A

ATTORNEY.

Nbv. 19, 1935. R. w. LAHEY ET AL CARBOY PACKAGE Filed Oct. 23, 1934ZSheets-Sheet 2 3 .uHHHHH" INVENTORS. l

fimmw 44074 Q MAM ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 19, 1935 UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE CABBOY PACKAGERichard W. Lahey, New Rochelle, N. Y., and Kenneth M. Sieg, Elizabeth,N. 1., assignors' to American Gyanamid & Chemical Corporation, New York,N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October 23, 1934, SerialNo. 749,534

5 Claims. (Cl- 217-52) The present invention relates to a boxed carboy,that is, a crate or case within which is located a frangible container,usually a bottle,

ordinarily used for the shipping of liquid materials.

In such boxed carboys, it is customary to provide cushions of one kindor another between the bottle and the box to absorb shocks and preventbreakage. A considerable amount of work has been done to arrive at acombination which will increase the life of the package as a whole andprevent undue breakage of the bottle.

Much efiort has also been expended looking to-'- ward the choice ofsuitable materials to act as cushioning means between the bottle and thebox or case which, of course, is important-although it is'not believedsufllcient attention has been paid to the actual constructional detailsof the box and/or its associated parts.

The effectiveness of carboy packings is usually determined byfilling apacked carboy with water,

placing the same in a cradle hung from an overhead support, the cradleresting against a concrete slab or block, swinging the cradle and carboyout from the concrete block a considerable distance and then releasingthe cradle. As to whether or not the package will withstand-the shock ofthe impact over diflerent distances has Y been accepted as the standardtest of efficiency.

We have conducted a series of experiments including swing tests withvarious types of packings and have studied the action and reaction ofsuch packings under impact by means of the slow motion picture camera.As a result of these observations, we have found that both the bottleand the box have certain tendencies which must be taken intoconsideration if aneifective packing is to be had. With the combinationof this invention, we have made the following swing tests on the samebottle and packing without shattering or dislodging the bottle:

10 times from '75 inches 1 time from inches 1 time from inches 2 timesfrom inches On another similar carboy package, the successful swingswere:

1 time from '75 inches .1 time from 85 inches 1 time from 95 inches 3times from 105 inches The invention, therefore, contemplates broadly apacked carboy which includes a box and a bottle therein with cushionmembers between .the box and the bottle, cushion carriers for holdingthe cushions in a manner which will permitof the rocking of the cushioncarriers and consequently slight relative movement of the cushions withrespect to both the bottle and the box. The invention furthercontemplates separation means 5 between the cushion carriers and thecorner posts of the box which serves not only as a positive locationmeans to center the cushion carriers properly but which also permits ofthis desirable rocking action above referred to. These separa-, 10 tionmeans may be shims or wedges to put the cushion members undercompression.

The invention further contemplates the use of a greater degree ofpressure on one set of cushions than another, all for a purpose morefully here- 15 inafter described.

The invention further consists in the details of construction,combination and arrangement of parts more fully hereinafter describedand with reference to the accompanying drawings which 20 and 30 Fig. 5is a rear view of the cushion carrier of Fi 4.

Referring now with particularity to the em-' bodiments illustrated, abox or casing is shown generally at I, consisting of four sides and bot-5 tom with hand holds 2 and skids 3, all of which are of usualconstruction.

Within each corner 01' the box is a substantially triangular comer post4 having a vertical groove 5 therein for a. purpose to be more fully 0hereinafter described.

Seated on the bottom of the box are cross pieces 6 and I carryingcushions 8, upon which the bottom of the bottle rests. It is preferredthat these bottom cushions 8 engage the bottle bottom at an 5 areaincluding definite curvature as shown in Fig. 3 as this makes foreffectiveness and tends to prevent lateral displacement under shock.

The bottle'is shown generally at 9 and may be of any desiredconfiguration. 50

Between the bottle and the box, there are located an upper and lowerseries of cushions Ill and II respectively. Each of these cushions isheld in a groove in a cushion carrier l2 and. secured thereto in anydesired manner as by means 55 of a cement or the like. It is to be notedthat the plane of the area of contact between the cushion and thecushion carrier is at an angle to the vertical so that the cushions l0and II likewise engage the bottle surface at an angle. This makes theimaginary lines of compression of the top and bottom series of cushionsat an angle to each other so that they intersect when extended. The rearface of each cushion carrier I2 is grooved as at l3, that groove beingsubstantially of the same extent as groove 5 in the corner post 4. Aspacing member ll engages with the corner post 4 and the cushion carrierii in their respective grooves. It is to be understood that each spacingor separation member H is of a vertical extent sufllcient to engage bothan upper and a lower cushion carrier. These members I4 may be eithershims or wedges as the case may be, although we prefer the latter as itinsures the use of a greater degree of comprmsion on the top cushionsthan on the bottom cushions.

Where .ound desirable, joining members I 8 may be used to connect theupper and lower cushion carriers.

A top It having an aperture therein may be used to secure the bottle inthe box with suitable neck-protecting devices as is usual in this art.

It is believed that the material of which the cushions are to be made isimportant. In this connection, reference is made to the co-pendingapplication of Lahey and Kast, Serial No. 721,356, filed April 19, 1934.There is disclosed the use of unvulcanized, reclaimed rubber cushionshaving high shock absorbing capacity, slow recoil and highaging-resisting abilities, these characteristics remaining substantiallyconstant at temperatures ranging between 0 and 100 F. The use,therefore, of uncured whole tire reclaimed rubber having a plasticityfigure varying between 2.80 and 3.80 based in a inch base point under 1kilogram load for one minute as measured in a Pusey-Jones Plastometer,is preferred for the cushions, in the combination of this invention.Such cushion material is not absolutely necessary, however, inasmuch asthe packing herein described has relieved the cushion of much of itsresponsibility for the bottle behavior. The invention, therefore, is notdependent upon the use of any particular cushion material although theabove material is preferred as undoubtedly such a cushion doescontribute materially to the total effect desired.

A study of slow motion pictures, particularly those of the package atthe moment of impact and slightly thereafter show conclusively that theentire bottle has a tendency to move in the direction of the swing uponimpact as would be expected, and that unless limited movement ispermitted, the bottle will shatter. For this reason, unlesssubstantially the constructional combination herein shown anddescribedis used, such cushions as block cork or asphalt-coated corkagglomerates are not efficient. Block cork as a cushion material is notparticularly efiicient for the reason that its rate of compressibilityis too slow and, hence, does not permit desirable bottle movement.Asphalt-coated agglomerates are likewise objectionable because at lowtemperatures the asphalt becomes brittle and at high temperatures itsadhesive qualities are-lessened. Under these circumstances, the bottlemay shatter either because it strikes the side of the box or because ofresistance to movement. There must, therefore, be limited bottlemovement permitted at the moment of impact and the combination hereinreferred to is admirably adapted for that purpose as it permits just theright amount of movement with suflicient recoil and insures theautomatic return of the bottle to its proper position with relation tothe rest of the assembly.

All parts of the box, in the same manner, have a tendency to move in thedirection of swing following impact. It has been customary in the pastto drive shims between the box corner posts and the cushions where thoseshims have a contact area with the corner post substantially equal tothat of the corner post with no positive interlock therebetween. As aresult thereof, when such boxes are swung, the slow motion picturecamera records an actual displacement of such 13 shims from the cornerpost with no positive way of returning them to their proper positionupon recoil. As a result, two or three swings of such a box may soentirely displace the shims as to render them ineffective, which loosensthe cush- :3 ions and renders the entire packing inefl'icient. On theother hand, by tonguing and grooving the separation members I, which maybe either shims or wedges, both to the corner post and the cushioncarriers, in combination with the 25 lengthened cushion'carriers, at notime do these three members lose their relationship. While they may,immediately following impact, move away from each other, yet the groovesin those members are deep enough so that the parts 14 :0

do not leave them and are immediately returned to their proper positionupon recoil.

In this momentary displacement of the cushion carriers and theseparation members, at

or immediately following impact, it has been :5

found to beef advantage to permit the cushion carrier with its cushionto have a slight rocking movement. This is accomplished by reason of thefact that the separation members H have a contact area with the cushioncarrier of a relatively slight extent only. It is toibe noted that thecushion carriers I2 extend in a direc: tion toward two adjacent sides ofthe box although they are normally out of contact there-,-

with. At the moment of impact in swing tests,

however, where the swing has been from extreme distances, the slowmotion picture camera records the fact that the bevelled ends of thecushion carriers actually contact with the sides of the box whichprevents further movement.

In other words, this combination and construction of parts is designedprimarily to permit slight relative movement of the parts upon impactwhile limiting the extent of that movement so as not to permanentlydisplace the parts from their desired relationship.

That the cushion carriers as above described are of the floating varietyis also highly desirable in that if the cushions are not adjustedexactly right when initially placed in position, they may find theirproper location in the course of time, making their adjustmentautomatic, particularly as the bottle settles.

When conducting swing tests on packed carboys from extreme distanceswhich have caused shattering of the bottle, the slow motion picturecamera has recorded the fact that in most instances there is a surge ofliquid within the bottle upwardly into the neck thereof and that thissurge exerts suillcient force at times to completely disconnect the neckand upper part of the bottle from the body thereof. Many of the brokencarboys contain the neck of the bottle in a single piece down to thejuncture of the neck at the shoulder. This means, of course, that thereis a tendency for the bottle to jump vertically upward upon impact, dueto liquid surge. This may be prevented by putting a greater compressionupon'the upper cushions than that upon the lower and by placing theupper cushions at a point where, when under compression, they will flowover the curvature of the bottle shoulder. This situation isdiagrammatically represented in Fig. 3. Due to the fact that the cushioncarriers are inclined, the cushions engage the bottle at its point ofgreatest strength, that is, along substantially the radius of the arc ofthe shoulder or bottom as the case may be. This, therefore, tends tohold the bottle between the cushions vertically, although they arelocated at the bottle sides. By using wedges as the separation membersll, the entire set of upper cushions may be put under a compressiongreater than those of the lower set, which has been found to eifectivelyresist the tendency of the bottle to jump upwardly upon impact due toliquid surge within the bottle.

From the above, it will be apparent that the invention is of particularadvantage in that the packing of the carboys is much simplified and isnot dependent upon hand labor to properly center the cushions, for thegrooves and spacing members together with the cushion carriersautomatically center the cushions on the bottle in the proper location.This combination of parts not only prevents accidental displacement ofthe cushions under severe shock but insures their return to the initialand eilective position. Moreover, the fact that the cushion carriersand, consequently, the cushions are permitted a slight rocking movementtends to absorb shocks. Under extreme conditions of shock, the cushioncarriers may contact with the sides of the box, thus distributing theshock to the box sides and corner posts with consequent saving indetrimental effeet on the box or case.

It will also be apparent that the cushions engage the bottle at itsstrongest points with the line of pressure on the cushions followingsubstantially that of the radius of the bottle arc with which thecushion contacts. Under these conditions, the center portion of eachcushion is under the greatest pressure which causes a flow of theremainder of the cushion material towards each end of that arc. Thebottle thus floats between the upper and lower cushions, the latterbeing automatically adjusted vertically as the bottle settles uponaging. The fact that the upper series of cushions are under a greaterpressure than the lower series offers the necessary resistance to thetendency of the bottle to move upward under liquid surge.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference toparticular embodiments, yet, obviously, such embodiments are to be takenas illustrative only and the invention is to be construed broadly andrestricted only by the scope oi the claims.

We claim:

1. A boxed carboy comprising a box and a bottle therein, a series ofcushions between the box and the bottle, a cushion carrier, a box cornerpost, means for forcing separation of the corner post and the cushioncarrier to thereby compress the cushion, said means, carrier and cornerpost being tongued and grooved together.

2. A boxed carboy comprising a box and a bottle therein, a series ofcushions between the box and the bottle, a rocking cushion carrier, abox corner post and means engaging the corner post and the cushioncarrier for forcing separation of those parts and thereby putting thecushion under compression, the plane of the cushion engagingjace of eachcushion carrier being inclined from the vertical so as to put the upperportion of the upper cushion and the lower portion of the lower cushionunder a compression greater than the remaining portion of said cushions.

3. A boxed carboy comprising a box and a bottle therein, a series ofcushions between the box and the bottle, a cushion carrier, a box cornerpost, the opposing faces of the cushion carrier and corner post beinggrooved and a separation member tongued into the grooves on the carrierand corner post.

4. A boxed carboy comprising a box and a bottle therein, a triangularcorner post at each corner of the box containing a vertical groove, apair of cushion carriers located generally at each corw means of awedging element, the wedging element being seated in a groove in onepair of the cushion carrers and a corner post, the top and bottomcushion carriers being tied together, a cushion on each cushion carrier,the plane of the face of each carrier in contact with its cushion beingat an angle to the vertical, the top portion of each top cushion and thebottom portion of each bottom cushion being under a compression greaterthan that of the remainder of those cushions, the imaginary lines ofpressure on the upper and lower cushions intersecting when extended.

5. A boxed carboy comprising a box and a bottle therein, a series ofcushions between the box and the bottle, a rocking cushion carrier, abox corner post and loosely mounted means engaging the corner post andthe cushion carrier for forcing the separation of those parts andthereby putting the cushion under compression in which the area ofengagement of the separation forcing means with the corner post and thecushion carrier, is less than the area of the planes with which saidseparation means contact.

RICHARD W. LAHEY. K. M. SIEG.

